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Panchatantra StoriesKumud SinghalPurna Vidya1

Story of PancnTantraPurna Vidya2

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The Brahmin and The Cobraaridatta was a Brahmin who was very poor. He was a farmer butthe piece of land he cultivated gave him very little to survive. Oneday, unable to stand the heat of the summer sun, he went to a bigtree in his land to rest for a while. Before he could spread himselfon the ground he saw in the nearby anthill a huge cobra swayingwith his hood open.He thought, “This cobra must really be the Goddess of this land. Ihave never worshipped her, which is why I am not able to getanything from the land. From today, I will worship her.”At once he went back to his village and returned with a glass full ofmilk.He poured it in a bowl and turning to the anthill said, “O ruler ofthe land, I did not know you were living in this anthill. That is why Ihave not paid my tribute to you. Please excuse me and accept thishumble offering.”He then placed the bowl of milk at the anthill and left the place.Purna Vidya5

Next day when the Brahmin came to his land before the Sun was up,he saw a gold coin in the bowl he had left at the anthill.Henceforth, he came alone every dawn, collected the coin, offeredthe milk in the bowl and left. One day the Brahmin, leaving foranother village on business, asked his son to go to the anthill andoffer milk. When the son went the next day, he found a gold coin inthe bowl.He collected the coin and thought, “This anthill must be full of gold.If I kill the cobra, I can collect all the gold in one go instead ofcoming here every day.”He then struck the cobra with a big stick. But the cobra deftlydodged the blow but stung the son to death with his poisonousfangs. Returning to his village the next day, Haridatta heard thestory of his son’s death and at once realised that greed was behindit.The Brahmin went to the anthill the day after his son’s cremationand offered milk to the cobra. Without coming out of his hole, thecobra told Haridatta,Purna Vidya6

“You have come here for gold forgetting that you had lost a sonand that you were in mourning. The reason is greed, pure greed.From today, there is no meaning in our relationship. Blinded by hisyouth, your son has struck me and I bit him back. How can I forgetthat blow? How can you suffer the grief of your son’s death?Finally, I am giving you this diamond, don’t come back again.”MORAL: Excess of greed is harmful.The Bird With Two Headsgreat bird named Bharunda lived on the banks of a lake. He hadtwo heads but a single body. One day,as the bird was wandering onthe bank of the lake, he found a fruit, which was as delicious asambrosia. One of his heads mumbled, “Oh what a fruit. I am surethe heavens have sent it for me. I am so lucky.”Purna Vidya7

Hearing this, the second head said, “O brother, let me also tastethe fruit you are praising so much.”The first head laughed and said, “Both of us have the samestomach. It makes no difference whether I eat it or you eat it. Ishall give it to our beloved. She will be very happy.” Bharunda thusgave the fruit to his wife. The second head was disappointed atthis action of the first head.One day, the second head found a poisonous fruit and told thefirst head, “You treacherous fellow. For what you have done to me,I will eat this poisonous fruit and avenge your insult.”The second head said, “You fool, if you eat that, both of us will diebecause we have the same body.”Ignoring his warning, the second head ate the poisonous fruit andboth of them died.MORAL: Sharing of a good thing with others is always good.Purna Vidya8

Once upon a time there lived a group of mice under a treepeacefully. But once a group of elephants came that way anddestroyed the homes of all the rats as a result of which many ofthem were crushed to death. Then the king of rats decided toapproach the elephant chief and request him to guide his herdthrough another route. The elephant king agreed to this and tookanother route to the water. And so the lives of the rats weresaved.One day a group of elephant-hunters came and trapped the groupof elephants in huge nets. Then the elephant king suddenlyremembered the king of the rats. He summoned one of theelephants of his herd which had not been trapped, to go andcontact the king of rats.On listening to the elephant, the rat king took his entire group ofmice and they cut open the nets which trapped the elephant herd.So the elephant herd was totally set free.MORAL: A friend in need is a friend indeed.Purna Vidya9

The Blue JackalOnce upon a time there was a forest by acity. The forest was the home of manyanimals. Among them was a jackal. Therewere many other jackals who belonged tothe same pack but the others movedaround together and seldom left theforest.Now this particular jackal was moreadventurous and often strayed into thevillage in search of food. He had already tasted the wonderfulthings the human beings were fond of cooking and went to look forsome whenever he could. It was not a particularly easy thing to do.He knew that the human beings would give him a sound beating ifhe were caught. Besides, the city was full of dogs and the jackalwas afraid of them. They were sure to kill him or hurt him badly ifthey ever managed to catch him. But the lure of food proved toostrong for him and the jackal went to the city again and again.One day just as he was about to enter a big house he heard thesound of loud barking. To his horror he saw a group of dogs runningtowards the house. They looked fierce and the jackal was soontrembling in fear. He ran willy-nilly and tumbled right inside a tubof blue dye. The dogs missed him and ran the other way. By thetime the jackal climbed out of the tub he was dyed blue from headPurna Vidya10

to foot. He looked really strange and totally unlike any other animal.The jackal was very happy. "No one will be able to recognize menow" he told himself, "I can easily fool everyone in the forest."The jackal was quite right. When he entered the forest once againeveryone was surprised to see such a strange animal. There hadnever seen any animal of that color before."Who are you?" the smaller animals asked him. "Where have youcome from?" asked the mighty lion with a frown. "Did anyone sendyou?" asked the fierce tiger giving him a keen look."Lord Indra, king of heaven, has sent me to look after you" saidthe blue jackal in a grand voice, "I'll be your king from now on.""But I have always been the king of the forest" protested themightylion."All that must change now as I am the king" said the blue jackalenjoying himself, "all of you must serve me and do exactly as I tellyou.""Whatifwedon't?"askedthetiger."Then Lord Indra will destroy the entire forest and all of you withit" said the blue jackal.The animals did not dare to say anything more."What would you like us to do?" they asked the blue jackal."Bring me lots of food, to start with" said the blue jackal promptly,"I am hungry and can't take care of you unless I am properlylooked after."Purna Vidya11

The animals rushed off in different directions. Before long theywere back with lots of food. They took care to bring whatever theycould find and offered the best of everything to the blue jackal.The jackal was happy and had his fill. Needless to say, there wasfar more food than he could eat. "Now all of you can eat up therest of the food" he said, "But mind you, you must bring me freshfood every day."The animals promised to serve him faithfully. He assigned specialduties to all the animals but banished the pack of jackals from theforest because he was afraid they might recognize him some day.The blue jackal had a wonderful time after that. He did not needto step out of the forest or risk confronting the dogs. He now gotthe best of everything without doing anything at all. He laughed byhimself whenever he remembered how cleverly he had tricked thelot – including the tiger, the mighty elephant and the lion whoconsidered themselves too grand for words. But one day somethingunexpected happened. The banished pack of jackals was roamingjust outside the forest and howled together loudly. The blue jackalforgot himself and joined in the howling just as he used to dobefore.The other animals were present when it happened and stared athim incredulously. Here was their mighty blue king howling just likea jackal! So he was a jackal after all and not a strange creaturesent from heaven! He had merely colored himself somehow and hadbeen fooling them all these days! Fooling the lion king, the fiercetiger and mighty elephant!Purna Vidya12

Well, they were not going to be fooled any longer. They fell uponthe blue jackal and killed him before he could explain or protest.And that was the end of the blue jackal's reign as king!MORAL: DO NOT PRETEND TO BE SOMEONE ELSE BE YOURSELFPurna Vidya13

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So the elephant herd was totally set free. MORAL: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Purna Vidya 10 The Blue Jackal Once upon a time there was a forest by a city. The forest was the home of many animals. Among them wa